The Verizon Ellipsis 7 is probably not the first choice for tablets among Android Police readers. It's a low-end, whitebox tablet from some no-name OEM that Verizon has rebranded in order to create a product that could sit at the very bottom of its tablet lineup. Even so, those people who did buy an Ellipsis 7 (or got one for free in various packaged promotions) were probably quite happy to see the KitKat update come in a couple of weeks ago..

File this one in the long list of small but nonetheless significant Android 5.1 improvements. In Lollipop, when you try changing the phone's volume, you get 3 different modes: None, Priority, and All. For better or worse, it's still the case in Android 5.1 with one minor addition: alarms are now integrated as a deadline option.

You have seen the LG Watch Urbane in promo pictures along with its announcement, but you were probably still wondering if the watch really looks that good from all angles. Well, it does. Exhibit A:

Sexy! With the G Watch R, LG pulled off a watch that looks sporty and cool — mine always turns heads because people never realize it's a smartwatch until it starts buzzing and I interact with the screen. But the Urbane is taking it to another level of class and sophistication.

We can attribute Android's eternal connection with sugary snacks to Google's whimsical use of desserts as codenames; but for many, Android is indelibly linked with grilled meat, thanks to the team behind the the Big Android BBQ. The huge gathering in Texas for Android fans first began in 2009 and continues to grow. Last year, the BABBQ organizers launched a new event in San Francisco to coincide with Google I/O 2014, called the Big Android Meat & Greet.

Good news, Android One users in India! Whether you bought a Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, or Spice Dream UNO, you have probably felt a little bit abandoned when Lollipop was released and your device was left running Android 4.4.4, while new phones launching in Indonesia and the Philippines have been donned not only with Lollipop, but with Android 5.1!

Following the earlier promise from Google India that Lollipop is only a few weeks away, Caesar Sengupta, Product Management Director at Google, has announced that One phones in India should have already started getting the Lollipop treat.

Android Auto and the Open Automotive Alliance currently enjoy the support of the world's largest manufacturer of passenger vehicles (Volkswagen Group) and eight of the ten largest passenger vehicle manufacturers in the world. It may surprise you, then, that Toyota, the world's largest automaker (counting commercial vehicles and buses), is not one of those eight.

Google stands to make the most money if you're online using its search engine and viewing its ads, preferably in Chrome or on an Android device. But sometimes the internet can be a tricky place to navigate safely, and that's just not good for business. So the company is continuing its push to make the web a safer place to browse on PCs and mobile devices alike.

The significance of SoundHUD becomes apparent only when you pay ridiculously close attention to Android news. As I'm sure most of you do, this will all fit together nicely. SoundHUD picks up where the now-defunct Noyze left off to make it easier to control the volume on your device. It also adds a simple way to get silent mode (more or less) back on Lollipop.